


Love For Adults: A Hinny Novel

by roses_r_redd



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Comedy, Drama, F/M, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 15:51:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17921807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roses_r_redd/pseuds/roses_r_redd
Summary: They are no longer children, they are war heroes, and everything is different, even love. This isn't a story about Hogwarts and teenagers, this is a story about getting your own place, never having any money, and the misuse of magic.





	Love For Adults: A Hinny Novel

“You’ve been quite busy.” Ginny had said easily. It wasn’t a loaded statement and Harry couldn’t decipher any deeper meaning to the red head’s words. It was simply an observation.  
“Yeah,” Agreed Harry, “Sorry.”  
Ginny didn’t respond. Instead, she looked down into her now too-cool cup of tea. They had sat here in the dimness of her mother’s kitchen for quite some time before she had spoken. She wondered why he was sorry, everyone knew why Harry was busy. The war was barely over, and he, the golden boy, the chosen one, Harry Potter, was the Wizarding World’s savior. He had done his job, hadn’t he? Despite her brother, despite Tonks, Lupin, Doby, Mad Eye, despite Bill’s scar, despite Hermione's scar, despite having to leave her behind for the greater good, he had done it, hadn’t he?  
“That’s not what you should be apologizing to me for.” Ginny told him, half teasing, half honest. “Apologize for dying for us, apologize for being who you are.”  
“I haven’t?” Harry responded. He didn’t look up from the drink he was nursing, but Ginny could see the half grin that pulled at the corner of his mouth. Ginny raised a leg and poked Harry’s arm with her foot.  
“Not nearly enough.” Ginny replied, the whisper of a smile on her lips. Harry finally looked towards the redhead, his eyes finding the familiar brown already staring at him. Her hair, mussed with failed attempts of sleep fell down past her chest, longer than he remembered. Her face looked older to, but that was common. After all, they had just won a war. The idea itself felt surreal to Harry. Was it really over? Would his scar never hurt again? Ginny, who had felt her own torment at the hands of Voldemort, was she finally safe?  
“I’m sorry, Ginny.” Harry says again, his eyes still holding Ginny’s stare. He can feel the corners of his eyes burn and he watches her jaw stiffen. She wouldn’t cry anymore, there was nothing left to cry over. She had cried for Harry, for the Wizarding World, for the dead. She had attended all the funerals, visited all memorials. There was no need for more tears.  
“I forgive you, Harry.” Ginny responded. Those green eyes still held hers and she watched them get glossy and fill with emotion. She wondered if anyone had ever forgiven Harry. Both those he had wronged, and those who only felt wronged, or perhaps even those who only Harry felt he had wronged.  
“Thank you.”  
It was a whisper, a breath even, Ginny wasn’t sure Harry realized he had said it. Sliding off her chair, Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck and pressed her cheek to his head. Harry hugged her back fiercely, relishing in the feeling of comfort she gave him, in her smell, her touch, the things Harry gave up when he realized he would be leaving Hogwarts in search of Horcruxes. It felt like a lifetime ago, it felt like another boy’s story not his. He had missed Ginny, not just emotionally, but physically. In the calm after Voldemort’s death though, Harry hadn’t the strength to bring it up to Ginny, it hardly felt appropriate. _Hey, wars all done, shall we pick up where we left off?_ It wouldn’t have been right to ask that of Ginny. The people he and Ginny were now and the couple who would walk along the Black Lake half a year ago were not two in the same. He still loved her, he still wanted her, but could someone like him ever be tolerable enough to love in return?  
“Good night, Harry.” Ginny said in her smooth slow voice. She disentangled from Harry, and he did not stop her. He cheeks though were a shade of pink he hadn’t seen in a long while. A shade of pink that insinuated intimate memories. Harry couldn’t help but blush too as his heart sped up.  
“Good night, Ginny.” Harry responded, watching her disappear into the darkness and silence of the Burrow. He would see her again tomorrow morning at the breakfast table when her hair was even messier and crumbs of toast would dress her lips.  
Despite having stayed up late in order to run from some of the too-real feeling dreams, Harry couldn’t wait to get to sleep now. If only to see Ginny that much quicker. It had been a long time since he felt like that.


End file.
